What distros do you install on your mom’s, sister’s, buddy’s, etc machines?
My go-to has usually been Mint, but I wonder if there is a better set and forget, easily understood distro to install on the computers of those who will rely on you for support.
atomic distros would probably be a good option, but it seems that same disk dual boot is a no no, and that can be a deal breaker.
I’m thinlink QoL, for me, that is.
It’s often a laptop, something us nerds wouldn’t buy generally speaking, so they tend to have hardware issues. So newer tends to be better. So plain old Fedora workstation with gnome. I pin their favorite programs to the dock, and show them the basics of the interface. I show them the software button and say they can install anything they want from there, and that they should do the updates that pop up from there.
Zero issues. Honestly does a better job than windows - things are more intuitive for the non tech savvy.
Edit: mint is pretty good too if it works. It’s one of those two systems.
Us nerds don’t buy laptops?
No no - not like that. Like crappy overpriced laptops. Like “I’m a piece of crap laptop masquerading as a good one and sold to people who don’t know better at a price way way way too high”.
Of course we have laptops :)
Indeed, wild statement if I ever heard one
I interpreted it as a “non-nerd” laptop, like a lower end consumer model purchased at full price for example
Laptops like that tend to be more hit and miss on Linux than say a Thinkpad or Dell XPS
Yes, like this ;)
👆
Mint is a very good option for this purpose. In my case, it’s Debian, but with a much more involved process.
The only ones who ask me to help with installing Linux are either very close friends or people in my family with whom I spend more time, and they tend to be curious about the exact setup that I’m using. I just so happen to have a fully-configured system image in a VM that I duplicate onto my machines, so I work with my friend or family to figure out what they need and how they want it to look, then I clone that VM, customize it to taste, and let them try it out. If they like it, I image it to their machine, make sure it’s bootable, work out any machine-specific issues, set a new password and encryption key, and make sure that
unattended-upgradesis working.Everyone else just asks me to help install Windows. I have a penchant for LTSC, with an obligatory trick up my sleeve.
They get what I have so when they have questions I’m more likely to know, and if I don’t I have a machine with me that I can check. It was Mint when I was still learning, now it’s Fedora Atomic. Or for the really tech-averse, ChromeOS Flex.
Linux mint. the go to linux distribution for recovering windows users.
I don’t see much love for Debian Stable + KDE in this thread, but that’s what I installed for my wife and she absolutely loves it. Don’t underestimate the power of a “boring” but rock solid foundation specifically designed not to break. Users new to Linux migrating away from Windows often really appreciate that.
Well you’ve given my answer for most scenarios these days.
I did do a bazzite setup for my BIL recently, but thats an edge case. Debian + KDE is what I run mostly too, so its not much of a surprise I’d use it for others either.
That sounds like a great combo
Mint XFCE 4 with a Windows-like UI. Installed on my sister’s home-office, and my mom’s old laptop… Haven’t had any complaints so far
NixOS, this is probably THE BEST use case for it.
Bazzite. It’s immutable so you don’t need to even set anything up or configure things or go into the command line if you’re just doing regular computer things (web browsing, gaming, etc). Best experience on Linux I’ve ever had in 15 years.
For somethings, it makes it harder to install so being immutable sometimes adds an extra hurdle. But for the type of people who wouldn’t install the OS themselves, they aren’t going to try those methods anyways and if they did, they wouldn’t know enough to not break things. So this is what I was thinking.
OTOH, it makes it harder to get find answers since its less popular than the parent OS’s and fedora instructions often don’t apply, so if they ever do get interested in learning more it could be a hurdle. But they’re just gonna ask me to deal with it, and I’m currently using bazzite (+ windows dual-boot for work stuff).
You’re grossly overestimating the amount of people who want to explore around with distros and advanced stuff. The overwhelming majority of every computer user wants to browse the internet, play games, and store their files. For the average person, one can install an immutable distro (for them) and leave them to use their computer.
Yeahh java is a pain in the ass to get setup on bazzite without breaking stuff when you have an os update. I spun a fedora vm up and just installed it there but I need to redo that because the program I need java for is on my main os and I can’t move the license without javing java installed on the main os…
Planning to install OpenSuse Aeon for my dad. He recently got a new laptop and is willing to give Linux a try on the old one. We’ll see how it goes and which laptop he’ll use more. His requirements are pretty low, he basically needs a browser most of the time, maybe some Office suite and sometimes FreeCad. I told my whole family I refuse to support Windows on their PCs.
ZorinOS
Came to say this. Has not failed me yet.
Fedora
I sneak into my sysadmin’s office and install arch over his slackware install whenever he is out on PTO. I don’t think he knows yet who is doing it, but I am sure he secretly enjoys yelling at us while reinstalling.
Manjaro. It’s really the most hassle-free distro that doesn’t have ancient software or risk breakage at every major version upgrade.
I know most of you can’t think for yourselves and let strangers on the internet do it for you, so I fully expect replies telling me why this is wrong.
I know you can’t help yourselves.
Mint.
Linux users tend to forget that using Konsole even once is overwhelming for even “seasoned PC users”
My roommate is a gamer, spends lots of time on PC´s and knows his shit. But he felt overwhelmed with the CachyOS Laptop i gifted him.
WIndows 7
